Premiere Episode of "The Verdict"

Perhaps not by coincidence, the first episode of the new CTV News show, The Verdict With Paula Todd, has debuted tonight. The program was all about Conrad Lord Black, with most of it presenting an introduction to the man.

Ms. Todd referred to Lord Black as "Mr. Black" throughout the show, and her sympathies are evidently with the prosecution. Significantly, all of the guests she had on the show who had worked with Lord Black clearly sympathized with him. This juxtaposition of sympathies made for an interesting, if not nowadays unique, balance.

One of her first guests was the fellow who had written up the indictment of all four defendants. (I'm sure there will be lots of reminders that Lord Black is only one of four, because his presence will continually overshadow the three others. There are three other defense counsels, one for Mark Kipnis, once for Jack Boultbee, and another for Peter Atkinson.) He explained that the way to bring in big elephants like Lord Black was to put together a a pattern of activities which, in and of themselves, don't mean all that much, but mean something nefarious when strung together. The charges themselves are consistent with his words.

Bottom line? If you believe that the trial is Lord Black's comeuppance, you'll like this show. CTV News has thoughfully provided a broadband link of The Verdict on the show's Web page for those who are out of CTV's broadcasting range, or who are otherwise occupied during the 9 PM time slot.